GOP's Rep. Renee Ellmers Says Her “Bring It Down to a Woman's Level” Comment Is Better In Context. Not Really.

North Carolina Rep. Renee Ellmers, one of the Republicans who is supposed to be working on improving her party's outreach to women, stood at the podium of the 'Take Back the Future' conference where the theme was the GOP's messaging to women and announced, “We need our male colleagues to understand that if you can bring it down to a woman’s level and what everything that she is balancing in her life — that’s the way to go." Ellmers explained, “Men do tend to talk about things on a much higher level,” and added “Many of my male colleagues, when they go to the House floor, you know, they’ve got some pie chart or graph behind them, and they’re talking about trillions of dollars and how, you know, the debt is awful and, you know, we all agree with that.” OK. First, someone should explain to the Congresswoman or whomever came up with the title of the conference that you can't take something back, that hasn't happened yet. You can mold the future, but take it back? Now, we understand what Ellmers was trying to say. As ineloquently as it was, we get the fact that pie charts don't connect the way a catchy GOP phrase might. Maybe she should have just included men in the statement and saved herself the flax from the slip of the GOP tongue. Maybe Rep. Ellmers should have been brutally truthful by explaining that her party represents white male privilege and those woman that enable that view of the World. She would have been more accurate. But she wasn't talking about women of minorities. Yes, the GOP needs some sensitivity training when it comes to relating to people in general. The first step in that process should be to see those they wish to talk to and persuade as equal and due more after you convince them to vote for the GOP. It helps to me honest with people. And then, it really helps to empathize- which means to understand and share the feelings of another. Talking down to women, or people isn't the way you connect with them. It certainly is no way to honestly represent them. The GOP needs to learn more than better ways to talk to 'people'. First, they need to learn to 'give a damn' and then they will find their conversations with women become easier; and so does finding the words.

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